Expense report template filled from your receipt photos
After a work trip you have a pocket of crumpled receipts and a form to fill in. Send your todo.is agent photos or PDFs of the receipts and it reads each one, fills an expense report template with dates, vendors, categories and amounts, converts currencies and flags anything missing.
The prompt
- Make an expense report from the attached receipts for [YOUR NAME AND DEPARTMENT], for [TRIP OR PERIOD AND PURPOSE]. Read every receipt (photos and PDFs) and list: date, vendor, description, category ([EXPENSE CATEGORIES]), payment method, original amount and currency, and amount in [REPORTING CURRENCY] using the exchange rate for that date, with the source. Our policy limits: [POLICY LIMITS OR NONE]. Flag receipts that are unreadable, duplicated, missing a date or above a limit. Add subtotals by category, a grand total, any advance already received ([ADVANCE AMOUNT OR NONE]) and the amount owed to me. Deliver an Excel file (summary sheet plus a line for every receipt) and a PDF of the report with all receipt images attached in order, numbered to match the lines.
What to change
- [YOUR NAME AND DEPARTMENT]: e.g. "Omar Said, Sales".
- [TRIP OR PERIOD AND PURPOSE]: e.g. "Berlin trade fair, Oct 12 to 15" or "September client visits".
- [EXPENSE CATEGORIES]: e.g. "airfare, hotel, meals, local transport, client entertainment, other", or your company's list.
- [REPORTING CURRENCY]: e.g. "USD" or "GBP".
- [POLICY LIMITS OR NONE]: e.g. "meals up to 60 per day, hotel up to 180 per night".
- [ADVANCE AMOUNT OR NONE]: e.g. "500 USD cash advance" or "none".
Example result
- Expense report: Omar Said, Sales
- Trip: Berlin trade fair, October 12 to 15, 2026
- Purpose: stand staffing and client meetings
- Reporting currency: USD (rates from a public exchange rate source, by receipt date)
- Summary by category
- • Airfare: $612.40 (1 receipt)
- • Hotel: $698.25 (1 receipt, 3 nights)
- • Meals: $171.10 (9 receipts)
- • Local transport: $94.80 (7 receipts)
- • Client entertainment: $246.50 (2 receipts)
- • Other: $38.90 (3 receipts)
- Total expenses: $1,861.95
- Advance received: $500.00
- Amount owed to employee: $1,361.95
- Receipt lines (sample)
- | # | Date | Vendor | Category | Original | USD |
- | 1 | Oct 12 | Flight booking, round trip | Airfare | $612.40 | $612.40 |
- | 2 | Oct 12 | Taxi, airport to hotel | Local transport | EUR 38.00 | $41.30 |
- | 5 | Oct 13 | Lunch, trade fair food hall | Meals | EUR 16.50 | $17.95 |
- | 11 | Oct 14 | Dinner with 2 clients | Client entertainment | EUR 182.00 | $197.80 |
- | 23 | Oct 15 | Hotel, 3 nights | Hotel | EUR 642.00 | $698.25 |
- Flagged for you
- • Receipt 11: client dinner. Policy requires client names and business purpose. Add them in the notes column.
- • Receipt 17: taxi receipt is blurry; the amount looks like EUR 14.00. Please confirm.
- • Hotel is $232.75 per night, above the $180 limit. Add a reason (fair week prices) or ask your manager for approval.
- Files
- • Excel: summary sheet, receipt lines, exchange rates used
- • PDF: report pages plus all 23 receipts, numbered to match the lines
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and fill in your name, trip, categories, currency and limits.
- Paste it into todo.is and attach your receipt photos or PDFs, or forward them to your agent on WhatsApp or Telegram as you go.
- Your agent reads every receipt, converts currencies and returns the Excel report and a PDF with receipts attached.
- Fix the flagged items, then submit the files in your company's expense system or email them to your manager.
Tips for a better result
- Photograph receipts the same day, flat and in good light. Faded thermal paper is hard to read later.
- Send receipts to your agent during the trip. Ask it to keep a running list and build the report on your last day.
- Write the business purpose and attendee names for meals with clients. Most policies require them.
- Use your company's own categories so the finance team does not have to re-sort the lines.
- For monthly expenses, set a recurring to-do: "On the last day of each month, build my expense report from receipts I sent this month."
expense report template: FAQ
- What should an expense report include? Your name and department, the period or trip and its purpose, a line for each expense with date, vendor, category and amount, totals by category, any advance received, the amount owed and the receipts.
- Can it read crumpled or foreign-language receipts? Usually yes. Your agent reads receipt photos with OCR and AI in many languages. Very faded or blurry receipts get flagged so you can confirm the amount.
- Which exchange rate is used for foreign receipts? By default, the rate for the receipt date from a public source, listed in the file. If your company uses a different rate, such as your card statement, say so in the prompt.
- Is my receipt data private? The receipts stay in your own agent workspace and only your agent uses them to build your report.
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